Multiple stakeholder perspectives of factors influencing differential outcomes for ethnic minority students on health and social care placements: a qualitative exploration

Background Despite considerable efforts there continues to be a degree awarding gap within the United Kingdom (UK) between the proportion of White British students receiving higher classifications, compared to ethnic minority UK-domiciled students. Practice placement elements constitute approximately 50% of most health and social care programmes, yet surprisingly little research exists related to the factors which may contribute to ethnic minority student placement outcomes or experiences. This study bridges this evidence gap by exploring factors influencing differential placement outcomes of ethnic minority students from the perspectives of key stakeholders. Methods The study followed a descriptive qualitative research design and was multi-disciplinary, with participants drawn from across nursing, midwifery, social work and the allied health professions. Participants from four stakeholder categories (ethnic minority students, academic staff, placement educators and student union advisors) were invited to join separate focus groups. Focus groups were recorded and transcribed and analysed thematically. Results Ten separate focus groups [n = 66] yielded three primary themes: 1) recognition, which highlighted stakeholder perceptions of the issues [sub-themes: acknowledging concerns; cultural norms; challenging environments]; 2) the lived experience, which primarily captured ethnic minority student perspectives [sub-themes: problematising language and stereotyping, and being treated differently]; 3) surviving not thriving, which outlines the consequences of the lived experience [sub-themes: withdrawing mentally, feeling like an alien]. Conclusion This study presents a rich exploration of the factors affecting differential outcomes of ethnic minority students on practice placements through the lens of four different stakeholder groups. To our knowledge this is the first study in which this comprehensive approach has been taken to enable multiple viewpoints to be accessed across a wide range of health and social care professions. The issues and challenges raised appear to be common to most if not all of these disciplines. This study highlights the urgent need to value and support our ethnic minority students to remove the barriers they face in their practice learning settings. This is a monumental challenge and requires both individuals and organisations to step up and take collective responsibility.

The Evolution of Ethnic Preferential Policies in the 21st Century

Ethnic preferential policies for gaokao—the national college entrance examination—are important for students of ethnic minorities to be included in the tertiary education system in China. While these policies promote educational inclusiveness and guarantee the right to higher education for students of ethnic minority, evidence has indicated that these students are struggling to acquire equal higher education opportunities compared to their mainstream counterparts. Referring to Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital, this chapter contributes a new perspective to the existing discussion of ethnic preferential policies. The chapter examines Chinese ethnic preferential policies and relevant supporting policies in this century. It identifies the evolution of these policies, indicating the developmental trend and arguing that the inclusiveness of ethnic minority students should comprise more than adjusting the admission score. Instead, a more comprehensive approach should be taken to acknowledge and legitimise the existing cultural capital of ethnic minority students.

HMông Students’ Sources of Funds of Knowledge: A Case Study of Kinh Primary School Teachers’ Practices

Teachers working with ethnic minority students who have different language and cultural background from their own may have little knowledge of their students in out-of-school context. This lack of students’ knowledge and resources outside of the school may lead to deficit thinking regarding this non-dominated group as intellectually and academically deficient. Underachievement and low study engagement by HMông ethnic minority students in disadvantaged primary schools in Vietnam evidence a need for more effective teaching practices to support these minority students’ learning and reduce inequality within their educational environment. The funds of knowledge (FoK) approach attempts to overcome teachers’ perceptions of ethnic minority students and their knowledge through learning about these students’ FoK and incorporating these insights into the teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to explore how Kinh teachers identify HMông students’ sources of FoK in order to support their teaching/learning practices. This research employs qualitative educational research method together with case study method to examine the way Kinh primary teachers identify HMông students’ sources of FoK. The findings indicate that Kinh primary teachers identified HMông students’ different sources of FoK that the teachers could beneficially be drawing on to empowering HMông children’ participation, achievement and Kinh teachers’ teaching practices.

The influences of different types of social media activities on ethnic minorities’ acculturation

Adopting the activity-audience framework, this study examined how different social media activities among a group of ethnic minority students associated with acculturation. It took a Qual-Quant sequential design by interviewing 44 secondary school ethnic minority students in Hong Kong first to conceptualize the potential relationships and then surveying 565 students to test the conceptual model. It found that different social media activities associated differently with acculturation; in contrast to the weak association of communication with friends and schoolmate, consuming mainstream culture-related information and interacting with strangers from the mainstream culture were the important determinators of the students’ bicultural competence and bicultural identity. Cognitive appraisal positively mediated the contribution of information consumption, whereas communication with strangers was mediated positively by behavioral appraisal but negatively by affective appraisal. The findings advocate a differentiated approach toward utilizing the affordances of social media activities for acculturation.

Non-communicated judgments of, versus feedback, on students’ essays: Is feedback inflation larger for students with a migration background?

When providing feedback, teachers are concerned not only with the simple transmission of information, but also with motivational and interpersonal dynamics. To mitigate these concerns, teachers may inflate feedback by reducing negative or increasing positive content. The resulting difference between initial judgments and feedback may be even more drastic for ethnic minority students: In non-communicated judgments, negative stereotypes may result in more negative judgments, whereas in feedback, concerns about being or appearing prejudiced may inflate feedback towards ethnic minority students. These hypotheses were tested in a sample of 132 German teacher students in a 2 (between subjects: feedback vs. non-communicated judgment) × 2 (within subjects: target student's migration background: Turkish vs. none) design in which participants read supposed student essays and provided their written impressions to the research team or the supposed student. Findings revealed that teacher students’ feedback was more positive than their non-communicated judgments on a multitude of dimensions. Contrary to expectations, these effects were not stronger when the student had a Turkish migration background. Instead, teacher students rated the essay of the student with a Turkish migration background more favorably both in the judgment and feedback conditions. Our results suggest that teachers adapt their initial judgments when giving feedback to account for interpersonal or motivational dynamics. Moreover, ethnic minority students may be especially likely to receive overly positive feedback. While the motivational/interpersonal dynamics may warrant some inflation in feedback, negative consequences of overly positive feedback, for which ethnic minority students may be especially vulnerable, are discussed.

Ethnic Minority Students in the UK: Addressing Inequalities in Access, Support, and Wellbeing in Higher Education

This chapter focuses on UK higher education and how structural racism is perpetuated through inadequate attention to access, support, and wellbeing. Inequalities in higher education correspond with those in health, where there are marked disparities between ethnic majority and ethnic minority populations, as COVID-19 revealed. The research employed a qualitative methodology to explore students’ experiences of higher education at a widening participation university during lockdowns resulting from COVID-19. Twenty undergraduate students participated in focus groups and semi-structured interviews across the academic year 2020–2021. These were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that ethnic minority students suffered from inadequate access to technology, insufficient attention to child-care responsibilities, a dearth of peer-to-peer interactions, and limited institutional support for mental wellbeing. Inclusive support services and welcoming learning environments, including space for peer-to-peer learning, however, were emphasised as enablers for effective learning and emotional wellbeing. This study has shown that inequalities in access, support and wellbeing in higher education remain. Overcoming these inequalities requires equitable access and support provisioning for ethnic minorities so that all students can fulfil their potentials, at university and after.

THE DIETARY INTAKE OF ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS AT TWO ETHNIC BOARDING JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THÁI NGUYÊN PROVINCE

Objective: To assess the dietary intake of ethnic minority students at two ethnic boarding junior secondary schools of Thai Nguyen province in 2019. Research subjects and methods: The study was conducted according to the descriptive method, cross-sectional design on ethnic minority students and their dietary intake at two ethnic boarding junior secondary schools of Thai Nguyen province. Using pre-designed questionnaires to collect demographic information, frequency of eating and using the food weight method to determine the total energy and nutrient composition in the dietary intake. Results: The total dietary energy of students (1939 ± 327.0) was insufficient compared to the recommended needs, only 88.1% in male and 94.6% in female. Energy from lipid (23.4%) provided enough compared to the recommended needs, however, the energy from protein (17.8%) provided an excess and from carbohydrates (58.8%) was lacking compared to the recommended needs. The rate between the three energy-producing substances (17.8:23.4:58.8) was not reached compared to the recommended needs (14:20:66). Lipid, animal lipid, vegetable lipid provided enough compared to the recommended needs. While, protein, animal protein provided redundancy, vegetable protein and carbohydrates were lacking compared to the recommended needs. Substances that do not produce energy and fiber were mostly lacking in compared to the recommended needs. Only vitamin B1, vitamin B3 and zinc provided enough compared to the recommended needs. The rate of Ca/P was reasonable. Conclusion: The dietary intake of the ethnic minority students at two ethnic boarding junior secondary schools of Thai Nguyen province was not balanced and reasonable.